This invention relates to improvements in safety devices for supporting a person in the water or during physical therapy and, in particular, to a girdle-like device of cloth construction which is worn but does not interfere with swimming or other body movement, and is provided with handles which may be grasped to assist in carrying, stabilizing or moving the person.
In teaching a person to swim or in training an accomplished swimmer for competition, there are times when the coach or instructor needs to grasp the student either for instructional purposes or to assist the swimmer if he or she has become exhausted in a training swim. Grasping the body, of course, is difficult, and harness-type devices previously proposed have not gained widespread acceptance. To be usable, any such device must not impede the normal movements of the swimmer nor significantly reduce his or her efficiency, and yet must provide a means by which another person can provide effective assistance.
Also, patients in physical therapy must frequently be supported or stabilized by another during the course of therapy. The same problem is presented in providing a garment that can be worn but does not interfere with the requisite body movement, and yet provides a means by which an assistant can effectively grasp and hold the patient.